Greenwood (Madison State Road)

Greenwood, IN - Sun Jan 20, 2008

Facing north on Madison Avenue at the entrance to Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana.

Historical marker for the site of the first cabin in Greenwood, Indiana. Located on the west side of Madison Avenue in front of Greenwood Park Mall.

Facing south on Madison Avenue at the entrance to Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana.

Northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Main Street in downtown Greenwood, Indiana. You can see from the lack of building setbacks along Madison why it was necessary to build a bypass when widening US-31.

Facing east along Main Street as it crosses Madison Avenue in Greenwood, Indiana. Main Street is Greenwood's connection to I-65.

Northwest corner of Madison Avenue and Main Street in downtown Greenwood, Indiana.

View south along Madison Avenue just past Main Street in downtown Greenwood, Indiana. Historical marker for the birthplace of banking in Greenwood.

Facing north on the south side of Greenwood, Indiana where Madison Avenue connects to US-31. The old alignment of Madison Avenue (formerly IN-431, formerly US-31) continues straight into Greenwood while the bypass curves to the left to avoid the downtown.

Approaching New Whiteland, Indiana heading southbound on US-31.

According to the web site of the Town of New Whiteland: The Town of New Whiteland was incorporated in July 1954. The re-routing of US-31 distinguished New Whiteland as one of two communities located on the new highway between Indianapolis and Seymour. New Whiteland had promises of being an area with business advantages. It was faith in these possibilities that led Marley Williams and other Whiteland businessmen to build and expand for the future. Thus the new community growth became known as New Whiteland.

I'm not sure about this claim. I checked my official 1957 Indiana Highway Map and other 1950s maps, and by that time US-31 didn't go through Seymour anymore, that would have been Alternate US-31. The 1957 map also curiously calls New Whiteland "West Whiteland". So I'm not sure which other town shares this great honor of being one of those two communities. By the 1950s it appears that US-31 had clearly bypassed the town centers of Greenwood, Franklin and Columbus.